Distractions, Distractions
by maraudler
Summary: 'We came from the stars, you know. The matter and the elements that made it all up, that made everything up. The stardust and fabric that made life. It's in us.' JP/LE


October's breeze swept through the streets, red and gold leaves ruffling in the autumn chill. Those outside could only button their coats, wrap their scarves, fold their arms as they passed the windows of the town cafés and little shops, the air nipping at their skin. The sun would be tucked behind a large grey cloud threatening rain as it rumbled in the sky, and umbrellas could be seen in most hands even on the driest of days. Two weeks before Halloween proved no different.

Amidst the rush of people in the town shops, a teenage boy sat behind a counter, leaning on one elbow and tapping away on the wooden surface. The library had been no more busy than the previous day and the fifty odd visitors who had come and gone by the afternoon, with their newly stamped book in hand, had left him sitting in the hard backed chair, mindlessly watching the few people walking about the shelves. It was painfully quiet.

A mother and son were whispering quietly together, the closest customers to the ever-increasingly-bored teenager, and flicking through rather large colourful books. He ran a hand through his mess of black hair as he studied what would quite probably be the most interesting people he would see that day. The young boy was wearing a 'Beatles' top, far too big for his small frame, his mother in a dress cut short at the shin. He wondered how her bare legs hadn't frozen from the weather outside, though the fire close by did give the library a pleasant warmth. At least he wouldn't freeze on the job.

Feeling his eyes drooping, the boy made an attempt to listen in on the conversation to keep from drifting off. It was tricky, the voices so small, but he could tell from the faint tones that there was some kind of disagreement. Just as he thought about going over to check everything was ok, to do _something_with his time, the library door swung open. Cold air flooded in sending a shiver down his spine, and he looked over to catch a brief glimpse the street outside before the door shut once more. And right at the entrance facing him stood a girl.

From the looks of it, she was around his age, wearing a thick blue coat and a hat pulled over deep red hair. Rather than heading towards the counter, she turned to the right, disappearing behind the tall bookcases.

He sighed. Pulling at his cheeks, he thought about going to search around for something to read himself, just to keep busy. The window behind showed crowds of people bustling about the busy town, already threaded in Halloween decorations. He smiled at the festivity.

'Um, excuse me?'

The boy turned around quite suddenly at the voice. He must've been gazing outside for a moment or two longer than planned, he realised, as he came face to face with the red headed girl in the ridiculously large coat. Now she was much closer, he could make out the pink flush in her cheeks and the _bright_green eyes that were looking across at him. She was quite pretty, actually.

'Hey, what can I do for you?' He gave a friendly smile to which she returned, hers a little less bold.

'Well, I was looking for a certain book and -'

'D'you need help finding it?' He offered, lifting himself from the chair.

'No, I know where it is… It's just a little out of my reach.' She said. He grinned.

'Oh right. Well that shouldn't be a problem. Mind showing me where it is, miss?'

He followed the girl into a section across the library, amongst many shelves and cases. A sign stuck to the wall read 'Mythology and Legends', causing another grin to form on his face.

'Like mythical creatures and all that then?' He said as she stopped, scanning a rather tall bookcase.

'Oh, just a passing interest. Something to keep me busy, you know?' She gave a wave of her hand, tilting her head backwards to find the right book. 'It's there! In between those two massive red ones. Think it's called 'Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes something-or-other'.' She was standing on the tip of her toes, pointing to a blue book tucked away on the eighth shelf. The boy, adjusting his glasses, looked up and reached towards the object in question.

It was quickly brought down and handed to the girl, a grateful smile spread across her face.

'Thank you very much, Mr Potter.' She was grinning now, clutching the book. He stared at her.

'Uh, how -'

'It's on your name tag.' Her finger was pointing to the badge on his chest as she laughed lightly.

Oh. 'Oh, right. Well, uh, I'm James, actually.' He smiled, happy to be finally talking to someone his own age.

'I'm Lily.'

Huh. Lily. It was pretty. _She_ was pretty. James realised he was still smiling at her. Idiot.

'Well, it was no problem, Lily.' He said, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. 'You want me to stamp it so you can take it home?'

'Oh no, it's ok. I'd rather just stay here and read it.' She made her way to an armchair in the corner and gave him a nod.

'Alright then,' he sighed dramatically. 'But just know you've taken the insane thrill of pressing ink onto a page from me. It's the only thing getting me through the day.' James said, not totally sure if he was even joking anymore.

Lily let out a small laugh, 'Sorry about that. But it's so peaceful in here, it can't be that bad?' She'd sat down now, taking off the thick scarf from around her neck. Curls of dark red hair fell across her shoulders, and it took a moment before James found his voice.

'Uh… Uh, yeah I guess so.' He blinked. 'I mean, I'm the only one working here at the weekends so it can get really boring. I have a half hour lunch break, and then it's back to sitting and stamping.'

'But it's worth it, right? You wouldn't be doing it if you didn't need to.'

'Just a job to do for a bit of my own money. My own freedom, you know?' He glanced at his wristwatch. 'Well I should probably get back to it, then. The books aren't going to check themselves out.' He gave a quick grin, turning round. 'See you around, Lils.'

Walking away, he found himself just a few feet from the bookshelves hiding the small section on mythology, laughing lightly at the sound of the girl's voice.

'It's Lily!'

James had continued his shift until 5 o'clock, waving a small goodbye to Lily as she walked out only minutes before closing time, and headed home. The sky was darkening quite quickly, dusk casting shadows across the cobbled path running through town. He hugged his scarf more tightly around him, shivering slightly in the cool evening air.

It had been another dull day; James was beginning to judge how important the job was to him and _why_ he couldn't just get a job at the garage with Sirius, before thinking of the red headed girl. Lily.

As a seventeen year old bloke, he couldn't deny the simple fact that she was very pretty, her dark hair falling in waves, startling green eyes that shone out from her creamy skin flushed pink from the cold. But it wasn't just that; she'd seemed friendly enough during their short encounter and, frankly, it was one of the highlights of his otherwise atrociously boring day.

Giving a small nod and smile, he quickened his pace.

The day that followed began just as any other. James snagged a slice of buttered toast from the breakfast table before placing a chaste kiss on his mum's cheek and leaving the house, bag in tow. He made the familiar walk across town in the late morning breeze, streams of sunlight cracking through the heavy clouds above.

Sunday morning saw many heading from the Church across the road, filling the streets with people as James opened the doors to the library.

He had to admit, watching five little kids playing about with some books some time later, he didn't exactly possess the stern manner one would expect from a librarian. Most of the time he found that as long as the people were enjoying the books, whether it be from playing catch with them or actually _reading_, it really didn't matter how. Not quite the attitude the boss expected from him but, hey, someone might as well be having fun.

He reached in his bag and pulled out a pen and paper. Seemed the best option to start on that essay rather than wait till the end of his shift.

Four pages and seventeen visitors later, James looked up from his assignment at the tinkle of the bell as the door opened to reveal Lily.

'Alright, Lils?'

She'd taken a few steps closer and he could see the roll of her eyes at his call, but it was nothing to the big grin spread across her face.

He grinned back, watching her head in the same direction as before, chuckling lightly.

'Hey, I'm closing up for lunch in a minute.' James had gone to find Lily, cross legged on the same armchair as the day before and nose buried in the blue book. She jumped slightly, turning round.

'Oh! Sorry!' Placing a slip of paper in between the pages, she smiled gently at him. She had a nice smile. 'Is it really time for lunch? It goes by so quickly, don't you think?'

'Well I wouldn't say writing an essay on the historical figures of the fourteenth century is a quick and fun way to pass the time.'

Lily shrugged. 'At least it's out the way now,' she said, jumping up from the chair and slipping her hands through the coat sleeves. 'I am enjoying that book, though. Greek mythology is like this whole other world, it's just so _interesting_.'

James smiled. 'Glad you like it. Though don't you have any work to do yourself?'

'I try to get it out the way as soon as possible, really. It's something of a distraction if I'm honest.'

'A distraction from what?' They made their way out of the section.

'Oh, um, you know…' She cleared her throat. 'The war.'

'The war?'

'Yeah, the Cold War.'

James stopped, turning round to look at her. Her cheeks were flushed a little pink.

'You do your homework to distract yourself from the _Cold War_?'

'Hey, don't mock me. It's a very dangerous situation, ok? You want to get on my good side if we're about to be nuclear bombed.'

He laughed, walking round the final case and reaching the door.

'And why is that?' He opened it for her.

'Well, you never know. I could be part of some top society that serves protection to librarians like yourself.'

'Are you?'

'No.' She grinned at him. They were standing outside now, James locking up, then turning round to face her.

Her auburn curls were blowing in the wind, head tucked in a creamy woollen hat. She was wearing a coat that fitted her much more nicely than the one the day before, and her face had fallen into a much softer expression.

James wasn't all that close to her, but he still felt very aware of his own body. Damn those green eyes. Who even _has_ eyes that green anyway?

The words flew from his mouth before he had even processed the idea. He didn't know what made him do it… ok, well, he _did_, but that didn't mean he was allowed to say it _out loud_. He didn't mean it. _He didn't mean it._

'D'you want to grab a cup of coffee?'

Oh god, he could have just punched himself right then and there. Idiot.

Lily looked a touch taken aback for a second.

'Oh! Um, I actually have plans to meet with a couple of friends at one, I'm really sorry.' She gave him a small smile. 'Thank you for the offer, though.'

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

'No, no, it's fine! Just thought you looked a bit chilly.'

'I'm ok.' She bit her lip. 'Um, see you tomorrow then? That is, if you work on weekdays?'

'Couple hours after school every day.' James nodded, feeling a rush of gratitude towards her for being so easy to talk with. And, uh, giving him the opportunity to leave and hang his head in shame at Sirius.

'Right, well, see you soon I guess!' Lily flashed one more smile and turned to walk away.

'See you.' He said softly, inaudible to her ears as a roll of thunder roared in the sky. He ran a hand through his tousled hair, hitching the bag higher onto his shoulders.

Idiot.

The following week served in its regular form. Waking up at seven, walking to school with Peter and attending his classes to prepare for the end of term examinations, James fell into the usual pattern. At break he'd sit with Sirius, Remus and Peter; the four had been labelled 'the Marauders' by many students after one elaborate scheme had gotten the Headmaster sending the boys home in the middle of an important assembly. They often looked back at the fond memory of hundreds of party poppers and balloons exploding from the ceiling and decorating the entire hall in streams of colours. There had been many rumours and talks of _how_ the boys had managed such a feat, but to no avail. It remained quite the mystery to the school population, something the four friends took great pride in.

After the school bell rang, James would rush out the classroom and make his way to the library. This became a lot more hurried from the Monday to Friday, wanting to see Lily more and more as the days passed. It turned out, James _did_quite like her. And not because of her looks, though they didn't hurt.

No, as the week followed through, James began to get to know this red headed girl a lot more than he'd ever expected, something he was very pleased to do.

On his first arrival since Sunday, he'd entered the library, coat buttoned all the way up and scarf wrapped warmly round his neck, to find Gregory - the boss - working the checkout counter. With a nod and a friendly smile, he went to search for Lily. Just to talk. He'd had all day to decide, and finally appreciated the fact that he liked talking to her. Even if their only conversations had been all of three minutes long.

She was there, as expected, wrapped in a coat and avidly reading the mythology book. At first, the approach was rather awkward on his part, but she gave him a warm smile and began to chat.

It might've not been much, James had thought, walking back home that evening, but he'd definitely felt some kind of potential friendship in their interaction. He'd worked on a little maths homework while she read. Of course there was the job he had to do, but afternoons at the library were always much easier; shelving and sorting books never took much time.

Each day James would bring new work to do, seated on a chair opposite Lily. She would read, happily moving from book to book, whilst somehow still managing to complete all her homework. Their conversations became longer, more interesting. He felt he knew her as well as any other friend by Thursday, though it wasn't all one-sided. James would talk just as much - quite an achievement, Lily always had something to say - and tell her all about his day at school, his interests and theories. By the end of the week, she'd been filled in on more than he'd care to admit to anyone.

'So, what about your friends?'

It was Friday afternoon and Lily had finally reached the end of her fourth book that week. She placed it down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and looked across to James. He lifted his head to meet her gaze.

'What about them?'

'Well, who are they? What are they like?'

James ruffled his hair. 'Sirius, Peter and Remus. They're like my best mates.'

'Ah, so you have your own little clique, then.'

'Ha. No.'

Lily's lip twitched upwards. 'Really? So the term 'marauders' doesn't ring any bell?'

James dropped the pen he was holding and stared.

'Uh, wha- how have you even _heard_ that?'

She was grinning from ear to ear now. 'My friend Mary MacDonald - she goes to your school, right? I mentioned you, and she told me all about the marauders and your big prank.'

'It wasn't a _prank_.' James defended. 'We were throwing a party. You know, to celebrate this old hag of a chemistry teacher leaving.'

Lily was laughing, and he couldn't help but grin back. Really, her happiness was infectious.

But there was one thing that stuck in his mind. She'd _mentioned_ him. _She_ had mentioned _him_. To her friend! He couldn't suppress the growing smile.

'I can't _believe_ you practically rainbow bombed your school,' Lily was saying, still laughing lightly.

'Well then, you wouldn't be able to even process the parties we throw. They're completely brilliant.'

'As your brand new friend, I think it only plausible I'm invited to the next one.' Lily said, standing up as she noticed the time on the wall clock. 'I expect to be blown away.'

'You,' James checked his own watch. 'Are top of the list.'

Lily beamed, carefully slipping her book onto a shelf. 'Great! I'll see you tomorrow, then.'

James watched her walk away, turning back to see the mess of paper on the floor. He sighed.

Saturday came in a sweep of wind crossing the village. It was a blustery day, practically considered a hurricane in England, and the door slammed shut behind James as soon as he ran in. The first visitors were an old couple, followed by a group of giggling girls a few years younger than himself.

He went over to help the elderly man and lady, talking about the books they desired. They were very sweet; the old man, Tom, wanting to read to his wife whose eyesight was worsening. Just as James was happily discussing the tale of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' with the couple, he saw Lily rush in, the brief sound of howling wind filling the library. She beamed and, surprisingly, rather than heading off to her usual chair, walked over to the counter and took a seat.

'I remember when it was published.' The shaky voice of the little lady snapped James' attention back to the people he was attending. 'It was all the rage back then, still relevant if you ask me.'

'Definitely. It's an incredibly stunning story. You know, when I first read it, I was absolutely _terrified_ of Boo Radley…'

And so they went on, talking about the wonder of the novel and James adding in helpful remarks on books in general. Once decided on borrowing three, all recommended by James, they headed over to the counter where Lily sat, a friendly smile on her face.

'What do we have here?' She said kindly as Tom handed her the books. James raised his eyebrows. 'Oh, 'The Great Gatsby'! This is one of my favourite books, you know.'

Lily had stamped all three, writing down the titles and names of the couple in the log book.

'Have them back by the second week of November for renewal. Have a lovely day!' She gave them a gentle smile, handing over the books and, when they'd showed their gratitude and, at a very slow pace, left the library, James spoke.

'And that was?'

Lily grinned. 'Me deciding if your job is really as dull as you make it out to be.' She paused. 'It's not, by the way.'

'Alright, alright. That was literally _one_ customer. You should try doing the same thing all day.'

'But they were so sweet! At least you get to talk to nice people about books.'

James gave a laugh, raised his eyebrows and pointed his chin over to the bumbling group of teenage girls.

'Fine, ok, so you get a _few_ disruptive people sometimes. I would work your shift if I didn't have plans in an hour.'

'You have plans?'

'I'm going to the theatre with Emma and Mary. Surprisingly, I have other things to do than read all day.'

'Who knew?'

James and Lily continued their chatting, interrupted by the occasional visitor having their book checked out or handed in to Lily. He was pretty happy to let her do the work as she'd insisted on not minding, and so had pulled up a wooden chair on the other side to sit and talk. It was James, though, that went to see those who needed help as he was far more experienced and knowledgeable about the books in store.

Just when the two had reached a heavy point in debating whether Romeo and Juliet were completely idiotic or not - James: 'He couldn't check her _pulse_before killing himself? It's so stupid!' Lily: 'He loved her! I'm pretty sure if you saw the love of your life dead on a table, you wouldn't think so rationally either!' James: 'It's so frustrating!' - there was the sound of a tinkle and a voice called across the room.

'Oi, James!'

James turned around to see Remus and Peter walking towards him. He grinned.

'Alright?'

'Could you be talking _any_ louder? I thought the library was a place to be all hush hush.' Remus said in a much quieter tone, reaching the counter and raising an eyebrow at his friend. He realised they _had_ been speaking rather loudly and gave an apologetic smile.

'You're Lily, right?' Peter had pulled up his own seat and was looking at the girl in question.

'Uh yep, that's Lily.' James said quickly. 'This is Remus and Peter.' He pointed to each of his friends.

'Hi!' She gave them a bright smile.

Remus replied, 'It's nice to meet you, Lily.'

After exchanging friendly greetings, Peter turned to James.

'Sirius wants his own motorbike!'

'_What?_'

'Peter, we weren't supposed to say anything yet.' Remus said, holding back a grin.

'How the hell does he think he's going to get a motorbike?'

'You know the one he's working on in the garage?' Peter carried on, ignoring the nudge from Remus. 'He was telling us just now. Reckons he can fix it up, make it better than new.'

James laughed. 'Excellent!'

'Er no, _not_ excellent. He's gone mad, I'm telling you.' Remus raised his eyebrows.

'When isn't he?' James said, throwing an arm round him. 'Just imagine it, Moony. Riding at top speed; the wind in your hair, the sun at your back and the wide open road…'

'Poetic.'

'Why are you 'Moony'?' Lily asked, causing Peter to let out a loud laugh.

Remus stared.

'Oh, just a nickname. No meaning at al-'

'I think mooning on television is a good explanation, don't you James?'

'Oh, certainly.' James grinned. Lily was biting back a smile and Remus' cheeks had flushed pink.

'I was _twelve!_' He protested. '_Twelve._'

'Which makes it even more classic, Rem.' Peter said.

The four talked for a while after that, Lily learning all about the many marauder escapades and nicknames. She was breathless from laughter when the incident that led to James being called 'Prongs' was explained, and there were tears in her eyes at the story of 'Wormtail'.

It was James that noticed the time first.

'Hey, it's time to close up for lunch.' He said, interrupting Remus' dramatic telling of their extravagant firework display at the end of the school year.

'Fantastic,' said Peter. 'I'm starved.'

They walked out of the now empty library, the boys bidding their goodbyes to Lily.

'I'll see you Monday?' She directed at James. He nodded.

'See you then.'

'And we'll have to catch up another time too,' she said to both Remus and Peter. 'I still want to know what happened to that goat.'

Laughing, Lily gave one last wave and headed off. The boys turned to each other with a grin.

'Time to see Sirius?'

'You bet.'

The next few days, leading up to the autumn holidays, passed quickly. Sunday proved rather dull for James as, with Lily attending a family gathering, there was nobody to talk to. His friends rarely popped in anyway, the day before being, what James knew, an excuse to meet the girl he'd been 'going on and on' about. Though he'd only known Lily for little over a week, he'd become quite familiar with having someone interesting at work and couldn't understand how he'd managed hours by himself in the weeks beforehand. He sighed. He'd done a lot of sighing that day.

Monday came and went with very little work on James' part. He'd walked happily into the library to find Lily in her usual spot reading an enormous book.

'What're you reading?'

She lifted the cover up in show, not taking her eyes off the page.

'_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_.' He read out. 'Well have you tried looking in there?' James pointed at her stupidly large coat hanging on the side of the chair. 'Pretty sure you could fit a dragon into that thing.'

Lily put the book down, not doing very well at hiding her smile.

'How was your day?'

And so they went on talking like usual, somehow managing to fill two hours with constant conversation every day after school. It became so distracting, James would completely forget about his job and walk out at the end of the day, a trail of mismatched books and confused visitors in his wake. A lot of the time he'd just watch Lily talk. Of course he'd nod and murmur words of agreement for her sake, but he couldn't help but study the way her mouth moved, the way her hands gestured animatedly as she talked. He noticed that she would often bite her lip in thought, or whilst she read. It made him feel funny.

Peter said he fancied her. James punched him in the arm.

But he couldn't bring himself to the point of denying liking her at all, perhaps in a way friends weren't supposed to like each other. He didn't stare at Sirius' thick hair as he pulled it out of a ponytail, or gaze into Remus' glittering eyes, and he certainly didn't think about Peter's gentle laugh when he walked home from the library.

It was Thursday evening and James and Lily were walking towards the door, when the sound of Gregory's voice called across the room.

'Potter!'

He didn't look happy. James turned round, quieting the laughs with Lily.

'Alright, Greg?'

'Come here, Potter,' he said. 'Would you take a look at my library?'

James looked. _Ok_, he thought, _can _kind of_ see what the problem is_. It wasn't a mess per se, but he knew how touchy his boss could get about keeping the place organised. Greg was standing in front of the counter, James only a few feet from him; he was very aware of Lily awkwardly hovering at the door.

'Right.' James said, biting his lip. 'Uh, yeah. Greg, I'll make it up to you, ok? It'll be all cleared up by tomorrow.' He hesitated. 'Promise.'

Greg rubbed his face and sighed.

'Look, James, you're a good kid. I know you've got to be busy at school these days so I'm not asking you to tidy the entire library right now,' He stepped forward and clapped a hand on James' shoulder. 'Tell you what, I'll run the counter tomorrow and you can organise all the books. Won't take long.'

James shook his head. 'Nah, I'll do it now, ok? Trust me,'

Greg hesitated in thought for a moment of two, eventually coming to a decision.

'Alright, son,' he patted James' back and pressed a key into his hand. 'Don't forget to lock up when you're done.' And then he left, walking out the door with a courteous nod to Lily.

James turned round properly, looking at her with question.

'You can go home now, Lily.'

She gave a small shrug. 'I'll help. I'm the one who made you talk to me, so _really_we're equals here.'

'Yeah but it's not your job. I'm fine to do it by myself,'

'James –'

'Lily –'

'James –'

'_Lily _–'

There was a thump as Lily dropped her bag on the ground and sat down, hugging her coat tightly around her body.

'Look.' And there was now a sincerity and defiance in her voice that made James shut up. 'I haven't given two bloody thoughts on the Cold War. Bigger fish.' She sighed. 'I'd _like _to help.'

James had absolutely no clue what she was talking about and the confusion must have shown on his face, for she said,

'This mess is going to take you at least a good couple of hours, _please _can I help?'

He stared at her curiously but, even though the library was now only lit with a golden glow, he could see her eyes had grown wide and charming and couldn't help the smile playing across his lips. He rolled his eyes.

'Go and grab the stock list for each section and check all the books are there. I'll sort.'

So she did. The sky outside was a deep grey, minimal light cracking through the clouds in the early evening, and darkening quickly. James and Lily cleared, checked, found and sorted their way through the entire collection with fewer words exchanged. Lily sang to herself quietly, but not so quietly that James couldn't hear – even from the other side of the room. The songs were peaceful and pleasantly sweet, none he'd even heard of but found himself listening to closely all the while. It was only when she'd started in French that he asked,

'What is that?'

'What?'

'That song. I recognise it from somewhere.'

'La Vie En Rose?' She smiled. Then, singing softly, 'hold me close and hold me fast, this magic spell you cast…'

'Yeah,' James said quietly. 'That one.'

They were facing each other, cross legged, from two opposite bookcases almost two hours into their clear-out. James was almost certain it shouldn't have taken this long, and he was _definitely _certain he should be home now. His mother would worry.

The library was dimly lit, the windows showing the mist of the dark world outside. It was becoming harder to read the titles of books and, even with his glasses, James was straining his eyes to see. Lily was flicking through a large dusty volume, effortlessly bored as him.

'I think I'm done,' she said after a minute of silence. He patted the books behind him firmly.

'Me too,'

She lifted herself from the floor and walked over to him. They were in the 'non-fiction' section, rickety tables and tall bookcases creating a wall of knowledge around, the smell of dust and warmth strong in the air.

'Can I take this home?' Lily asked, settling herself down and showing him the book she was holding. It had no title from what he could see, but circles were etched into the cover.

'What is it?'

'It's about the universe,'

'Didn't think that was your style,'

'It's fascinating,' she said. 'Galaxies and planets and space. It's like there are all these other worlds out there that we don't know and that are _real_.'

'You believe in aliens?'

'Why not?' She stroked the leather cover with one hand. 'But it's not just that, James. All the stars in the night sky, burning rocks thousands and thousands of miles away. Like they're there just to form the constellations we see and exploding so we get to wish on a shooting star.'

He didn't say anything, only watched her talk. There was such energy in her soft voice, spark in her eyes that he thought that she could just talk and talk and he would never get bored.

'We came from the stars, you know. The matter and the elements that made it all up, that made everything up. The stardust and fabric that made life. It's in us. Doesn't that just make you feel special?'

James simply breathed. Lily looked at him, really looked at him now. There was a shift in her expression.

'Bigger fish.' She whispered. 'My sister. My mum. My dad.' And before he could get a word in edgeways, the words came tumbling out. 'You know why I come to the library everyday James? At home, there's nowhere to escape. I can read a book, I can do my homework, I can cook or paint or listen to music… but it's like I'm stuck in that place. Stuck in my own world for hours and hours where my sister won't stop screaming and my dad won't stop smoking and my mum won't stop crying.' Lily looked down at her hand. 'It's like I come here and I can be who I want. I can read all those books about mermaids and gods and the infinite universe and it's crazy and magical and so much _better _pretending we're all special.'

James had been watching her far too long, hadn't said a word in far too long and yet he couldn't find his voice. He didn't know why she was telling him this or why she was clutching a book about the stars as if it was the most important thing in the world. He didn't know why she was telling him her secrets, or what seemed like her secrets anyway, or why he didn't really question it at all. Because he didn't. He felt like everything she said was important to him and that everything she felt, he felt. Two weeks he'd known her, and yet it seemed what she was saying was only for his ears.

Lily stopped. She looked up again and cleared her throat quite loudly, a shock to the silence.

'I don't know why I just told you that.' She stood up, tightening her coat. It was a moment before James got to his feet too and looked across to her.

'I, um –'

But he was hardly paying attention to her voice any longer. Her cheeks were flushed pink, eyes brighter than ever and her expression was a picture of nervousness and shock as she looked up at him, biting her lip.

It was only seconds, _really _seconds, as they looked at each other. And looked and looked and looked until James stopped looking. Lily's deep hair burned in the firelight, her face so stunningand words so beautiful.

And so James kissed her. And it wasn't until he'd bowed his head and pressed his lips to her lips, rough to soft, and felt a bang in his chest as he did that he realised _what _he just did and jumped back.

'Oh god.' He ran a hand through his hair. 'Oh god, Lil I'm so so-'

When James would look back on that moment, he couldn't have held back a smile. He couldn't've told anybody that the thing that hit him right then wasn't the most painfully wonderful and utterly incredible thing that had ever hit him. Because Lily had kissed him back.

With a soft grab of his shirt, she had pulled him back down. The thoughts running through James' mind right then weren't thoughts at all, really. Only mere sounds and colours and feelings banging away inside his head. But as she kissed him, and oh he kissed her back, lips moving, hands feeling, smiles creeping onto their faces, the bang of his thoughts was nothing to the fireworks in his chest.

It was a minute before Lily stepped away, slightly flushed and breathless, hands still holding onto his shirt.

'I, um… I wouldn't mind that coffee so much anymore.'

James grinned.


End file.
